you have an excellent route here and i dont think any of the negative comments should detract from the enormous amount of their own time people have commited to organising this sportive. having read some they are genuinely intending to be constructive. notwithstanding this the standards are now very high and people are expecting to rely on the signage in a sportive. the garmin file on the website actually had a different route than the intended route. one major suggestion is avoid droitwich. many lost the route here and its easy to go round the town. a big thanks to all who spent any of their time in its organisation. you have the potential with the route for a far bigger and better supported event. that signage issue needs sorting

had a fantasitc day,really enjoyed it well organised see you next year thanks !!!!!

Firstly a big thank you to the organisers for staging this event. I have competed in other sporting events but this was my first pure cycling event I’ve ever entered and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Having read the various information provided on the event website, I knew this event would not be a walk in the park. Knowing that (from previous experience) signs can be removed or tampered with and feed stations can run out of things I decided to prepare myself fully. I was able to download the map and run through it (many times) on an Ordinance Survey map until I was happy where it went. Despite this I still took a printed map with me on the ride. Lack of or changed style of signs proved not to be a problem. Living in Worcester I was also able to ride some of the course (the stinger section) so I knew what to expect on the day. As for the feed stations, the only thing I took from them was water. This I mixed with energy drink powder which I took with me pre-measured into individual sandwich bags. I also carried my own energy bars and gels so I wasn’t dependant on the feed stations.

The only thing I would change was not taking a spare tube. A puncture half way round the stinger section found me struggling to peel the backing off a patch. Without a doubt this mishap cost me at least 4 places.

I’ll be back next year having done a little more training as well!!

In reply:

For our 2nd year 140 new day-glow signs were put up on the course and checked 3 times plus the night before. A post event count shows we brought back in all but 8, including the 3 removed in Stourport within 1 ml of the finish being replaced by us during the event. Where possible between turns comfort signs were added and on 5 junctions in addition to the new signs a larger one was added, 3 were CTT but there as a back up. A rough distance done by myself and helpers for this event is just under 1,000 miles over the wk/end. Of course we will try to cover all eventualities but cannot legislate for signs torn down by the public and in fact in every single sportive I have ridden over the past 4 years there have been missing signs; this is why a route card is given out at the start as well as being on the website. Incidentally the police have advised us that 'painting directions' on the roads will lead to prosecution so that is no solution. It also clearly stated that the Stinger Section included roads both narrow with some in poor condition. There is a limit to how much one can do, we cannot cut down trees or resurface the roads! We aimed to give as varied and interesting course as possible, and this we achieved.



I was unaware that the one feed had not had additional isotonic drink and will make sure this doesn't happen next year. By keeping entry open to the day before plus taking on the line entries it makes food and drink levels more difficult but overall we seem to have covered this part to everyones satisfaction.



I cannot comment on the garmin download as this was done by our IT man, who took over the website at short notice late in the day, but we will check on this for future. Possibly he will need to construct a new website.



We had broom wagons for both events and the man from the last feed gave us the time the last rider came through. The sports centre staff are paid till 5.00pm but kindly stayed until 6.20 when we were asked to leave so they could lock up – they had also opened an hour early to accommodate the event. We are aware that some riders do not always bother to check in and considerable time had passed since the last feed and on discussion agreed we could wait no longer, it was after all over 9 hrs since the last riders had started, 10 hrs for the full Stinger ones.



It is always a challenge to bring an event to the calendar and to meet all expectations. Undoubtably some things will go awry at the last minute whilst other aspects go to plan. The purpose of the guestbook is to encourage debate, answer for any failings even where beyond our control, and look to improve year on year. Be assured that the Wyre Forest sportives will aim to correct where needed and enhance where possible, whilst also keeping the entry levels competitive (we cut them by £5 this year, opposing the general upward trend), so hope to see many of you back next year.

As a member of the Wyre ForestCRC, we take these comments on board. I work in a business that is all about continuous improvement, and we will apply this to the stinger for next year including

* Sinage
* Tracking of riders (so we know about late arrivals)
* Surface conditions
* stock of energy drinks

I have done other sportives and I feel the Stinger has a lot of positives, and the negatives are easily corrected for next year.
So do not give up on us just yet because it will be better next year, so come back and have a look.

Agree that signing was a disaster. I missed the first feed station because of this and when I eventually got to the second station half way up Clee Hill, (62 miles), almost out of fluids, I was told there was no isotonic energy drink, only water or squash! Had it been a hotter day, this could have been downright dangerous!

I also agree that some of the road surfaces were atrocious, particularly one part that was in dappled shade and difficult to see all the bumps and potholes!

I did however enjoy it until I got two punctures in quick succession and found my pump had broken!

I am sorry that I am sending such a negative post - I usually appreciate the efforts that organisers put into such events for very little return other then adding their bit to the sport. I would also like to say that I have marshalled numerous running / cycling events so I do have some understanding of the difficutlies faced.



Overall your event was good - the food stations were good with pleasent staff and the course (if you could follow it) was tough and scenic. The free massage was also most welcome at the end.



However the event was let down in a major fasion by your signage. In many areas the signs were difficult to spot (especially the one on the floor), a large group of us went the wrong way after about 4 miles due to poor signage and this was the pattern of the day.



You stated dayglow yellow for the stinger - you made no mention of the change of signs to "time trial" dayglow yellow which was confusing to nearly all riders I spoke to.



I also am fortunate to have a garmin 705 so I downloaded your "route". The downloaded route was not anywhere near the yellow signage - it did not even come close. While I think all riders accept that children / disgruntled motorists will remove signs I dont think they can be blamed for doing this over a (middle of no where) route spreading over 100 miles. The odd sign yes - but they certainly did not go out and swap the small signs for larger time trial signs to unnerve the riders.



It is obvious that this has also impacted on the results. I am satisifed that my time is accurate (with the exception of my 3 mile detour at the beginning due to poor signs) due to some discussions with others who were unsure, sighting my garmin (which as i say did not reflect your signage) and the route card. I started out hoping to a) finish b) with luck get silver.



I completed a but most certainly not b. I now look at the results and wonder how true they are. As an example, a fellow cyclist did not even do the "stinger" section as he was well and truly lost. I am not even sure how far he actually rode but it was most certainly not the course that he set out to do. I was with this cyclist when he reported this at the end. However his name still appears as a finisher of the Stinger in less then 7.5- totally wrong. I wonder how many of the Gold and Silver awards are incorrect ? I also wonder how many could have got this standard with better signage. Please remember this was a sportive not an orienteering expedition.



I also look at your list of DNF riders with some dismay. Another friend did not arrive back until 1830 having gone well off course. Fortunatly for him we waited. The organisers had long gone. We could not go and look for him as we did not know where he was (due to the poor signage). As organisers you knew he was out on the course as we spoke to the guy at feed point 3 who confirmed that he had just arrived "as we were packing up". I dont think it was a very good idea to just leave with the potential of cyclists out on a very tough route.



Sadly this is the only event that I have ever done where I can 100% say that I wil not be back. I wish you luck for the future but please can I ask that the route is made accurate, the signage is improved and a stipulation is placed on riders who are not back by a cut off time to contact organisers to tell them that they are still on the course but are safe and well to continue (where was the broom wagon and mechanic?).



I started this post by making an apology as I do not like to knock those who organise such events. Can I ask in return that you are truthful with yourselves and actually decide if you should run this event again without reviewing the whole process of signage and support for late finishers to avoid any serious injuries to those who may wish to enter in the future.

Its a pity that so much work put in and some bad results. The signing was a disaster. Too many directions missing and changing the arrow style half way round was not a good idea - we saved lots of guys heading off to Bromyard and oblivion!!!! Some of the "roads" were in terrible condition, not suited to race bikes at all. Good points were the excellent feed stations and the start/finish. everyone friendly and helpful. Funny point was the timing down to "seconds" when we just strolled up to the finish and gave our numbers! Sadly I will not do it again until the signing is sorted - its just too stressful getting lost in the Wyre Forest Stinger.

My first sportive event amny thanks to the organisers and to other riders for a friendly atmosphere and thouroughly enjoyable day. I did say at the end "never again", but sod it, see you next year!!

Thanks to the organisers. Thanks too to my old muckers Pete, Sam and Dougie, and a special thank you to Eleanor and Robin, who made the whole brutal affair a fun day out. Might even do some training for next year.......